'Lover' swindles lonely German
2008-01-03 09:21
Hong Kong - Police in China were on Thursday seeking a woman who cheated US$82 500 out of a lonely middle-aged German man she promised to marry.
The 60-year-old German, named only as Milan, has recruited the help of newspaper readers and internet users across China to try to get his money back from the woman.
Milan met the woman on an internet dating site and spent a romantic week with her in a hotel in Shenzhen, southern China, in September 2006.
They slept together twice and Milan lavished gifts upon his 31-year-old lover known as Ah Juan, or Anna, who claimed she was a virgin before she met him, newspapers in Hong Kong reported.
'I love you' for the first time
Milan told the newspapers it was the first time any woman apart from his own mother had told him "I love you" and after he left, he made plans to get a visa for Milan and fly her to Germany to marry him.
Over the following months, he sent large sums to Milan who claimed she had to pay off her mortgage on a flat in Shenzhen before she would be allowed to leave China and marry him.
When she stopped answering his emails and calls, Milan realised he had been conned and wrote to Ah Juan threatening legal action for the return of the US$82 500 he spent on her.
She responded with a letter and a picture of herself looking frail and ill, telling him the reason she was unable to leave China was that she was suffering from leukaemia.
Milan returned to Shenzhen to try to trace Ah Juan in November and when he was unable to find her, contacted the German consulate and the police to report her for fraud.
He has now given interviews, using only the name Milan, to Chinese-language newspapers and websites in an attempt to track Ah Juan down and get his money back.
'I only want my money back'
In one interview, Milan said: "I hope the hundreds of millions of Chinese internet users will help me to find her. I don't want her to go to jail. I only want my money back."
His story has been picked up by numerous southern Chinese newspapers and websites who have passed information on to police. One website carried the headline: "Find this tart who dates foreigners".
Police in Shenzehn say they have discovered Ah Juan's real name is Dai Hongjuan and that she comes from Chongqing in central China. She has not yet been traced and none of Milan's money has been recovered.
Shenzhen is notorious for its prostitutes and mistresses from across China who latch onto middle-aged and elderly men who visit the border city from Hong Kong or overseas countries.
Sapa-dpa
- SAPA